Author Interview – John Ling

How can readers connect with you?

I maintain a website at http://www.johnling.net

I also maintain a blog at http://johnlingblog.wordpress.com

I’m always happy to hear from my readers. Complaints about how my work has offended them are especially welcomed. =)

What is your favourite movie?

My favourite movie is Heat. A brilliant cop and a brilliant thief collide against the backdrop of an emotionally charged bank heist. It’s a premise that’s been endlessly recycled yet seldom improved upon.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are at the top of their game here, giving masterful performances, and director Michael Mann films the urban sprawl of Los Angeles with cinematography that can only be described as epic.

If you haven’t seen Heat, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s the crime drama to top all crime dramas. You owe it to yourself to rent it.

What writing are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my first book, The Blasphemer. It’s the story of a progressive Muslim author named Abraham Khan who releases a satirical novel questioning Islam. This enrages a terror group named Al-Shukur, and they issue a fatwa—a religious edict calling for his death.

It’s up to an operative named Maya Raines to protect Abraham Khan’s life. But as the attacks on him grow increasingly bloody and innocent lives are lost, Maya finds herself asking the most difficult question of all—how far would you go to protect one man’s right to speak?

The Blasphemer encapsulates everything I ever wanted to say about the collision between religion doctrine and secular rights. It also offers insight into an aspect of Islam that is seldom discussed in the media—the practice of Sufism, which is gentler and more progressive philosophy that offers an alternative to the aggressive Wahhabism embraced by groups like Al-Qaeda.

Who was your favourite author while growing up?

Growing up, I loved reading Charles Dickens. His stories were not just sweeping dramas, but they also offered vital social commentary. David Copperfield is, by and far, the best example of this.

It’s a rough-and-tumble story that charts its hero’s ascent from childhood, and it has

everything you would ever want in a great story—appalling tragedy, grand villains, starcrossed lovers, heart-stopping twists and turns, gritty meditations on life and death, and finally, a well-deserved triumph.

Perhaps more so than any author before him, Charles Dickens successfully blurred the lines between popular fiction and literary fiction. In his skilled hands, there was often no distinction between the two philosophies. He proved it was possible to blend crowd-pleasing entertainment with serious dramatic intent. And it’s that Dickensian sensibility that’s always stayed with me.

How far would you go to redeem your past?

Kendra Shaw is a 'fallen angel' -- a once-brilliant counterterrorism operator who suffered a nervous breakdown during a harrowing mission.

Now disgraced and suspended from duty, she is sent back home to recover. She is put on medication. Endures months of therapy. And slowly, surely, she starts to emerge from the shadows.

But any peace is short-lived.

One afternoon, on a busy street corner, Kendra spots a familiar face from her past. Ryan Hosseini -- the lover she left behind ten years ago when she decided to serve her country.

Wrestling with old regrets, she is about to approach him when she realises that he isn't alone. A surveillance team is hovering close by. Affiliation unknown. Intentions unknown.

And before Kendra can make sense of the situation, a bomb detonates and rips through the lunchtime crowd. And amidst the fire and rubble, Ryan vanishes.

Now Kendra finds herself on the hunt once more. Searching the city. Determined to uncover the truth.

Is Ryan a victim of circumstance? Or is he a home-grown terrorist on the verge of unleashing an even deadlier attack?

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Romantic Suspense

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Website http://johnlingblog.wordpress.com

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